Yes, your veterinary practice needs an app
By MWI Animal Health
There is a gap between owner expectations and veterinary practices' digital capability in our always-on society. This reduces owner engagement and compliance when veterinary practices are busy and the communication methods you've always relied on are time-consuming and outdated. Practices want to offer stronger customer experiences and deepen pet parents' connection to their practice. How can you enable client loyalty while also boosting compliance and enabling efficiency? With a client-facing app, uniquely branded to your practice.
Consider the prevalence of apps — and technology in general — in your life. Consumers, especially millennials and Gen Z have grown accustomed to the convenience of accessing information at their fingertips. With millennials representing 32 percent of U.S. pet owners, reaching that demographic is critical to sustaining your practice. For their part, Gen Z makes up 14 percent of current pet owners; yet the American Pet Products Association expects that Gen Z's ownership will steadily grow as many become adults within the next few years.
Are you reaching pet owners?
A veterinary practice app gives practices another opportunity to communicate with pet owners and allows independent practices to level the playing field with the larger, more resource-heavy conglomerates.
Current ways of connecting with pet owners are just not cutting it with digital-native generations. The time is right to seek new channels for connecting with your clients. A veterinary practice app that lets you communicate with clients offers peace of mind that your messages will reach their intended targets. An app can't bounce like an email or get lost in the mail like a postcard.
Give the people what they want
A veterinary practice app provides pet owners with a tool that allows them to self-serve while increasing their bond and engagement with the practice. One self-serve feature that's on the wish list of numerous clients is a to-do function. The pet owner creates a task list for themselves within the app and sets reminders. For example, "remind me every day at noon to give my dog his medicine" or "remind me on Tuesday to call for the appointment."
"To-dos can help drive compliance when they specifically talk about giving a medication. We know pet owners struggle with remembering. I'm guilty of it and I work in the industry," admits Libby Johns, supervisor, customer service, AllyDVM.
Other features a veterinary practice app could offer include:
- Simple registration and login process
- Set up and receive in-app notifications and reminders
- Request appointments — even after hours
- Request prescription refills anytime, anywhere
- Shareable pet ID and contact information
- Easily update your information
- Customize your practice's logo, banner, and custom color
For their part, practice owners want a well-run business that makes enough money to keep key stakeholders satisfied. That includes a happy team, content clients, and healthy pets. An app has the potential to benefit all those audiences.
Enable smoother workflows
One survey of 50 providers found 34 felt an app was "extremely beneficial" for effective practice management. It's clear practices like yours see the value apps bring to improving not only client relations, but efficiency, compliance, and revenue, too.
A modern app improves the workflow for an understaffed, over scheduled veterinary practice. If a practice previously spent money to mail postcards, an app can cut down on its distribution list. If staff is placing phone calls that go unanswered, communicating via a veterinary practice app can free up valuable time.
"An app helps the veterinarian schedule more appointments that require more vaccines. That drives revenue for the practice," says Johns. "Ultimately, if an app helps the veterinarian get these pets scheduled and stay better compliant, then it's helping the veterinarian, it's helping the pet owner, and ultimately the pet. It's a win for everybody."
